All herbicides and herbicidal compositions may be classified into groups such as artificial or synthetic herbicides and natural herbicides which contain plant oil combinations as a subset. The larger classification, i.e., synthetic or artificial herbicides include, for example, 2, 4-D or Glyphosate, which is primarily used for weed control. However, synthetic herbicides are not permitted for use in applications such as organic farming.
As mentioned above, organic plant oil herbicides can be classified as natural herbicides. These organic herbicides are typically represented by combinations of several plant oils including clove oil, citronella oil and cinnamon oil.
It is also well-known to those skilled in the art that the effectiveness of organic herbicides remarkably improves when the organic herbicidal composition includes organic acids. For example, products sold under the trademarks BurnOut® II Natural Weed and Grass Killer manufactured by St. Gabriel Laboratories Corp., Gainesville, Va. US; and Matran® EC, manufactured by EcoSmart Technologies, Inc., Franklin, Tenn. US; both contain clove oil and vinegar (acetic acid) and/or citric acid. NATURE'S AVENGER®, manufactured by Cutting Edge Formulations, Inc., Buford, Ga., US is an organic herbicide based on citrus oil. It is known that the improved effectiveness of the natural oil based herbicides cited above results from the acidification occurring to the natural oils. Stated another way, the combination of an acid with natural oils results in a more effective herbicide than natural oils alone.